State DOT...

Gov. Rell has used her annual budget address before the General Assembly to announce at least one big surprise each year since she took office. This year's surprise was her proposal to split the Department of Transportation into two new agencies, seperating road work from other DOT functions and oversight.

Today, she said that might not necessaily mean separate agencies, but possibly two distinct department functions within one agency. But isn't that what we have now? And isn't that what everyone agrees is broken and needs to be fixed?

In an editorial a couple of weeks ago taking a closer look at the governor's budget proposal, we suggested that although everyone agrees that DOT needs to be addressed, the governor's proposal isn't something that lawmakers should focus on this year, particularly in the short session.

Seems the governor now thinks so as well. She said today she is putting together a group to look at the matter and see how best it can be implemented.